help please!
My 88" 1980 Shovel will not start. Original problem was that the stater did not seem to have the enegy to crank the engine. I have eliminated the battery as a problem by jumping from the car. The started was then refurbished, the brushes were worn but nothing bad about the condition. I also renewed the solenoid as a terminal was breaking out of the insulation.
The engine can be turned easily by hand using a socket onto the crank.
With the spark plugs out and the bike battery attached the engine wont crank. There is a loud clicking noise, I assumed that the solenoid is firing but not engaging the clutch drive. With the car battery attached there is no clicking, a noise more like the starter is spinning or trying to spin but nothing else. Changing back to the bike battery and the clicking noise re appears. I have stripped and rebuit the starter drive system a few times and cannot see anything obvious. Can anyone please help!
Thanks in advance
Steve

 

The first thing I would do is to do a bench test on the starter by hooking it up to a good battery and manualy jumping the terminals to see if it does work.Should it work good on the bench,reinstall and start tracing the circuit .Start at the beginning the battery and follow the circuit thru the sarter.If you need a wiring diagram e-mail me and I will send it to you.

 

I'd say bad battery You said you jumped the starter off a car battery The problem here is usually the jumper cables Bad connections ! Try wiring the good car bat direct

 

Flying
thanks for the help, I will do as you suggest. I have wiring diagrams but thanks very much for the offer.
Steve

 

Thanks for the help, I will do as you suggest.
Although i have cleaned and checked the earth lead I think that I will make up a new one as well.
Steve

 

It does sound like a battery problem, with the current battery you could jump across the poles on the selonoid and see if it engages and turns the starter, if it does it could be the relay, just make sure the battery is charged and have a load test done on it. just check the battery first as it is the easiest and most common.

 

Did you ever fix your starting problems. I have similar problems with a 84 shovel. These things have a different starter and starter solenoid then todays bikes. Everything I'm learning about mine points towards solenoid. I was just talking to a friend today who has a shovel and changed his to a 3' belt drive primary and a modern starter no problems every since.

 

i have the same problem . the starter wont disengage or turn over the motor . even jumped it off my truck . i looked in the inspection cover and the gears are hooked still . i hit the starter gear off the clutch then it releases . tried again and same thing . worked fine 6 mo. ago . it was a new spike starter , do i need a more powerful one now ? should it at least turn motor over when i jump it ? just clicks

 

your solinoid could have bad contacts,my cables were bad,swaped them with tractor cables from autozone, or starter might be weak even thow it is rebuilt, could have bad windings not giving it enough power to turn over even thou it seems to work when tested

 

G,day, if the motor or primary has been off , check that you have not put too many shim washers on the shaft that goes into the outer primary, i recently put on a new outer primary and had a similar prob as the primary's had different thickness bosses for the shaft to enter. cheers kev